ERASMUS PROJECT REPORT
1st PHASE:
At the beginning, all the mentors introduced themselves, teachers who have participated in the specific workshop. Students, too, introduced themselves one to each other. They approached the camera and introduced themselves. Introduction was a good opportunity for them to build up self-confidence, especially for the students from the primary school St. Sava who used the English language publicly for the first time, so they were very proud. They were very happy too. Since the very beginning, the atmosphere was very great, because every student got the applause after introducing.
2ND PHASE:
Teachers played music for the Romanian participants, first slower one, then faster. Thus, the rhythms changed while the students painted and drew in accordance with the tones of the music. It appeared that faster rhythms motivated them to make faster movements with the brush, while light tones motivated them to slower ones. Students from St. Sava primary school followed the students from Macedonia and painted inspired with the music too.
3rd PHASE:
Coloring together one large picture on which everyone added something their own in order to create an authentic work. A very interesting experience for students from both sides. The idea was that everyone is authentic and as such gives their own unique impact that fits into the context of a larger whole, in this case a work of art.
4th PHASE:
In this phase all students were tasked to close their eyes or get a blindfold to try to imagine how is it for blind people while drawing. They drew for about a minute and a half. Immediately after this experience, they shared their impressions. Almost all the students were visibly surprised how unpleasant it is when you can’t see anything, and the segment of the workshop was what I saw until I didn’t see in honor to the blind and partially sighted people. We asked one participant at time to describe what he felt while painting with his eyes closed. This was a way for the students to put themselves in the blind person’s shoes for a second. Interesting works of art were created from this part of the workshop.
5th PHASE:
Everyone drew something on a piece of paper that was placed on the back of a student in front of, who had to guess what was drawn on their back based on pressure and movement alone, and express that feeling to their paper. Various works were created. There was a lot of laughter and joy. A very interesting game that tells how difficult it is to convey information in this form , how difficult to be interpreted in the same way as it was conveyed. The children enjoyed it as well as the teachers.
CONSLUSION:
In this online meeting we created beautiful works which served as a platform for meeting and accepting the different from ourselves. Apart from cultural differences, we also had the meeting between children with developmental disabilities and students from the typical population. We were also introduced to a student from Romania who, according to the inclusive education system, is the only one in his class who has autism. He was so obviously happy and excited to be able to present himself and show his work in this online meeting. He received a big applause which encouraged him to continue painting. We believe this was a successful workshop, which is also reflected in the evaluation of the students
